The horrors of the Confederate prison at Andersonville,​ Georgia are well known to [[Civil War]] historians and laymen alike. ​ With overcrowding,​ disease, mass starvation and unchecked violence among prisoners and their captors, it was arguably the worst war-time prison in American history. ​ For the fortunate Union soldiers who survived their ordeal at Andersonville,​ release at the end of the war must have been just short of a miracle. On April 24, 1865, many of these survivors made their way aboard the steamboat //Sultana// at Vicksburg, MS, sealing their fate.

The horrors of the Confederate prison at Andersonville,​ Georgia are well known to [[Civil War]] historians and laymen alike. ​ With overcrowding,​ disease, mass starvation and unchecked violence among prisoners and their captors, it was arguably the worst war-time prison in American history. ​ For the fortunate Union soldiers who survived their ordeal at Andersonville,​ release at the end of the war must have been just short of a miracle. On April 24, 1865, many of these survivors made their way aboard the steamboat //Sultana// at Vicksburg, MS, sealing their fate.